Bruce Ely/The OregonianJonny Flynn played a season-high 25 minutes and had 10 points and five assists against Oklahoma City on Tuesday.

TUALATIN – Raymond Felton was not at the Trail Blazers’ practice today, and his status for Thursday’s game against New Orleans remains uncertain.

Felton missed Tuesday’s home loss to Oklahoma City because he was in South Carolina to attend to a family matter.

“The message to him was to take as much time with his family as he needed,” interim coach Kaleb Canales said. “Initially, we talked about him being available for tomorrow. But as I said, family comes first.”

Canales said he spoke to Felton on Monday, but had not done so today. He said he’ll see if Felton can make it to Thursday’s shootaround before deciding what to do with his rotation.

On Tuesday, rookie Nolan Smith got the first start of his career. Smith had a bad shooting night, going 1 for 9 from the field, but Canales said Smith was “solid” defensively.

Felton’s absence allowed Jonny Flynn to get his first significant playing time with Portland since he was acquired from Houston in a trade-deadline deal 13 days ago. Flynn, whose longest shift in 11 appearance for the Rockets this season was 20 minutes, played 25 Tuesday and had 10 points and five assists and shot 3 for 6 from the field, including 1 for 2 from three-point range.

“I think Jonny played well last night,” Canales said. “I thought he brought good tempo and pace to our game. He definitely made a case for himself to earn more playing time. The game dictates that, and the adjustments as we go.”

Thursday’s game will pit Canales against one of his mentors, Hornets coach Monty Williams. They worked together during Williams’ five seasons as a Blazers assistant under Nate McMillan, a time in which Canales worked his way up from video coordinator to full-blown assistant coach. Canales said he and Williams have spoken since Canales was made interim coach, although he declined to say what they discussed.

“Private conversations that I’d like to keep private,” Canales said. “But me and coach Monty have a special relationship. He’s a special person.”

Canales also has a bond with Hornets point guard Jarrett Jack, with whom he worked closely during Jack’s three seasons with Blazers, who obtained him in a draft-day trade in 2005. Jack, in fact, once borrowed Canales’ car -- Jack was getting the tires on his own car changed to winter ones -- and crashed it into a parked semitrailer outside team’s practice facility.

Canales said he and Jack spent a lot of time together, and he has enjoyed watching Jack have the best season of his career, averaging 15.5 points and 6.2 assists.

“Me and Jarrett spent a lot of time together, improving his game, spent countless nights in this same gym, working on his jump shot, trying to improve his game, trying to find ways to make him better,” Canales said. “I’m happy for him that he’s playing good basketball.”